Electrical connecter



May l, 1934.

G. L. WELCH ELECTRICAL CONNECTER Filed May 26, 1950 L Ang? L /NVENTQRGLEN L. WELCH.

ATTORNEYl Patented May l, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

This invention relates to electrical connecters and more particularly tothat type of plug connecter which is commonly employed for connectingflexible conductors with electrical utensils of various kinds. Such aplug connecter usually comprises a two-part body portion, the two partsbeing connected together by bolts and provided with grooves tov formopenings in the assembled device in which the contact members aremounted. In practice the nuts frequently come oi the bolts, thuspermitting the two parts to separate and rendering the deviceinoperative. Further, the bolts must be removed and the device separatedto connect the conductors with the contact members, and the conductorsand contact members then accurately placed in the grooves, or openings,before the two parts can be reassembled.

One object of the present invention is to provide an electricalconnecter of this type in which the body or plug portion thereof will bein one piece, the contact members being inserted through the inner endsof the openings in the body portion, and a cap being provided to closethe outer end of the connecter.

A further object of the invention is to provide such a connecter withmeans for connecting the conductors with the contact members which willbe accessible by merely removing the cap. Y

A further object of the invention is to provide such a connecter withconductor connecting devices which will be very simple in constructionand will be of such a character that the conductor can be quickly andeasily connected with the contact member.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the device is described indetail.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a connecterembodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig.`

3 is a top plan view of the connecter; Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view ofthe connecter; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional View taken on the'line 5 5 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a plan view of the body portion.` .ilybroken away; Fig. '.7 is a sec tional view or the body portion of theconnecter taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a bottom plan viewof the cap, partly broken away; and Fig. 9 is a sectional view of aportion of the body portion of the connecter showing a modified form or"conductor connecting device.

the drawing I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention, with aminor modification thereof, but it will be understood that thisembodiment has been chosen for the purposes of illustration only andthat the device may take various forms without departing from the spiritof the invention.

In that embodiment here illustrated the connecter comprises a bodyportion 10, the outer or lower portion of which is flattened, as shownat 11, and the inner portion of which is cylindrical. This body portionis provided with longitudinal bores or openings 13 which extend entirelythrough the same and are adapted to receive contact members 14.Preferably the contact members are arranged in thevrespective bores nearthe outer ends thereof and are adapted to engage the contacting pins ofthe device to which the-connecter is applied, these contact pinsentering the bores through the open outer ends thereof. In the presentconstruction the contact members are inserted in the bores through theopen inner ends thereof and the bores are provided near their outer endswith shoulders 15 to limit the movement of the contact members towardthe outer end of the connecter. A cap 16 is removably attached to theouter end of the body portion and comprises a cylindrical part 17 toreceive the cylindrical inner end of the body portion. The cylindricalparts of the cap and of the body por- 'tion are provided withcooperating parts, such as screw threads 18, to connect the cap to thebody portion. The cap has a central opening 19 through which exibleconductor cords 20 may extend and, as here shown, the outer portion ofthe cap is flared, as shown at 21, to form a hand grip by which theconnecter may be manipulated.

The means for connecting the contact members with the conductors are ofsuch a character that they are readily accessible when the cap isremoved from the body portion ofthe connecter, thus permitting theconnection to be established by merely removing the cap and manipulatingthe connecting means. In the present construction the connecting devicesare inserted in the respective bores of the body portion of theconnecter and are of such a'character that when pressed into the boresthey will firmly grip the conductors. The connecting devices are preferably arranged in the inner portions of the respective bores and may beelectrically connected in any suitable manner with the Contact membersat the outer ends of the bores. Each connecting device comprises twomembers 22 arranged to receive between them the end of a conductor. Atleast one of these members is capable of transverse movement withrelation to the other member and the two members are so shaped that whenthey will be pressed toward the other member and the conductor firmlygripped between the two members. In that form of the device shown inFig. 7 the two members of the connecting, device are formed integralwith the respective parts of the contact member 14. Preferably Aa singlebar of resilient metal is shaped to form one member of y the connectingdevice and one part of the contact member and the two bars are rigidlyconnected one to the other, in the present instance by spot welding theintermediate portions of the bars one to the other. The outer endportions of the bars, which form the connecting members, are bentinwardly upon themselves, as shown at 23, so as to provide opposedgripping surfaces to receive the end of the conductor 20 between them.The outer portions or surfaces of the connecting members converge towardthe outer end of the bore and are adapted to enter the bore and toengage the wall thereof so as to be pressed inwardly thereby. 'Ihus bywithdrawing the connecting device partially from the bore the end of theconductor may be inserted between the parts 23 of the connecting deviceand this device then pressed into the bore to force the grippingsurfaces one toward the other and cause the same to firmly engage theconductor. If desired, the inner end of the bore may be slightly flaredto receive the flared connecting device. The cap 16 has an innercircumferential shoulder 24 arranged to overlap the edges of the twoconnecting devices and press the same firmly into the bores, when tnecap is screwed onto the body portion, and to retain the connectingdevices in the bores.

The body portion is provided on its inner end with a transverse rib 25arranged between the inner ends of the two bores and serving to separatethe adjacent portions of the two conductors 20. Preferably this rib isprovided on its opposite sides and near the center thereof with recesses26, the walls of the two recesses converging upwardly, as shown in Fig.5, thus enabling the conductors to converge toward the central openingin the cap without producing any sharp bends therein. As shown in Fig.5, the two conductors are knotted and the knot engages the upper end 0fthe rib but when a pull is exerted upon the conductors this knot will bedrawn away from the rib and the conductors caused to converge one towardthe other.

In Fig. 9 of the drawing I have shown a modied form of the connectingdevice. As there shown, a single bar of metal is bent upon itself, inloop form, and the free ends thereof are shaped to form the contactmembers 27 and the upper or connected portions thereof constitute theouter converging portions of the connecting device 28, the transverseportion of the bar having an opening 29 through which the conductor 20may be inserted. Rigidly secured to one of the converging portions 28 ofthe bar is a gripping member 30 which consists of a bar of resilientmetal having one end secured, as by welding, to one side of the part 28of the connecting device and having its other end bent downward- Y lysubstantially parallel with the opposite side of said part of theconnecting device. When the connecting device is not under pressure thegripping device 30 will be spaced from the adjacent y side of the outerpart 28 of the connecting device so that the end of the conductor maybeinserted therein through the opening 29 and between the opposed grippingsurfaces of the two parts of the connecting device. When theconnectinadeviceisforcedintotheopeninsorbore of the body portion of theconductor the gripping surfaces will be forced one toward the other andthe conductor firmly gripped between them.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention,together with a modication of the connecting device, I wish it to beunderstood that I do not desire to be limited to the details thereof asvarious modifications may occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an electrical connecter comprising a body portion having alongitudinal bore to receive a contact member, a pair of bars ofresilient material rigidly connected one to the other at points betweentheir ends, said bars on one side of said point of connection beingarranged to form the two parts of a contact member, those portions ofsaid bars on the other side of said point of connection being bent uponthemselves to provide opposed gripping surfaces to receive a conductorbetween them and being arranged to engage the Wall of said bore andpress said gripping surfaces one toward the other when said contactmember and the last mentioned parts of said bar are inserted in saidbore.

2.' In an electrical connecter comprising a body portion having one endflattened and having its other end cylindrical, said body portion havinglongitudinal openings extending through the same, and contact devicesmounted wholly within the respective openings and each comprising twospaced members; connecting members connected with each of the contactdevices 110 and arranged to receive a conductor between them, saidconnecting members being movable into and out of said opening and havingparts to engage said body portion when said connecting members areinserted in said opening and to 115 press said connecting members intorm engagement with said conductor, and a cap having means to detachablysecure the same to the cylindrical part of said body portion, having anopening through which conductors may pass and 120 having parts to engagethe connecting members and retain the same in said opening.

3. In an electrical connecter, a body portion having a socket openingthrough one end thereof, a closure for said socket having means forsecuring it to said vbody portion and provided with an opening in linewith said socket through which a conductor may be led into said socket,and a connecting device supported in said socket and having at one endthereof two parts spaced one from the other to receive said conductorbetween them, said parts being movable into and out of the adjacent endof said socket and at least one of said parts being .movabletransversely with relation to the other part, said transversely movablepart having an inclined surface to engage the adjacent end portion ofthe wall of said socket and move said movable part toward the other partof said connecting device when said parts are pressed into said socket,said closure having a part in line with and adapted to engage said partsof said connecting deviceand press the same into said socketv when saidclosure is secured to said body portion, and said body portion having anopening at that end thereof opposite said closure to permit saidconnecting device to be connected with a second closure.

4. In an electrical connecter, a body portion having a socket openingthrough one end thereof, a closure for said socket'having an opening 150through which the conductor may be led into said socket, said closureand said body portion having cooperating screw threads to connect thesame one to the other, and a connecting device 'of said socket and atleast one of said parts being resilient and having an inclined surfaceto engage the adjacent end portion of the Wall of said socket and movesaid resilient part toward the other part of said connecting device whensaid connecting device is pressed into said socket, said .closure havinga part in line with and adapted to engage said connecting device andpress said parts into said socket when said closure is screwed onto saidbody portion, said body portion having an opening at that end oppositesaid closure to permit said connecting device to be connected with asecond conductor.

5. In an electrical connecter, a b ody portion having a longitudinalbore, a connecting device slidably mounted in said bore and having atone end thereof two gripping members which are movable into and out ofthe adjacent end of said bore and which are movable transversely withrelation one to the other, saidgripping members having their innerlateral surfaces spaced apart to receive the end of a conductor betweenthem vand having their outer lateral surfaces inclined to engage thevadjacent endof the wall of said bore and press said inner surfaces intogripping engagement with said conductor when said gripping members aremoved into said bore, said connecting device having means for connectingthe same with another conductor at the other end of said bore.

6. In an electrical connecter, a body portion having a longitudinalbore, a connecting device slidably mounted in said bore and comprisingtwo resilient members, the end portions of which are movable withrelation one to the other transversely toL said bore, said end portionsof said members being bentnpon themselves to provide said f' memberswith substantially parallel innerparts and inclined outer parts, saidinner parts being spaced one from the other to receive a conductorbetween them and said inclined parts being arranged to engage theadjacent end of the wall of said bore and press said inner parts intoengagement with said conductor when said device is moved into said bore.

GLEN L. WELCH.

